Claymation has always lent itself brilliantly to music videos ("Sledgehammer, "Sober," "Hellbent"), but artist Allison Schulnik has used the art-form to create an absolute masterpiece
The fine folks over at Stereogum have brought to my attention a new video for the Grizzly Bear song "Ready, Able." The Brooklyn band -- already enjoying a fantastic 2009 on the heels of their latest LP Vecaktimest -- have done it again, this time employing artist Allison Schulnik to create a brilliant, surreal claymation piece befitting of the song. The video evokes images of a woodland Fantasia with a Halo-esque spaceship and plastic, green army-men thrown in for good measure. Don't take my word for it, please enjoy the video after the jump.
Kenny G joined forces with seminal 90's rock band Weezer to create a truly...interesting take on the band's new song "I'm Your Daddy."
Are you like me? Did you wake up today and think to yourself, "You know what Weezer needs? More soprano sax." Well get ready to get your mind blown and your pants rocked off. Kenny G, everyone's favorite musician to rag on, teamed up with Weezer to produce a unique take on the track "I'm Your Daddy," from the band's newest album Raditude. Bask in the glorious, resplendent video after the jump.
Google has launched - albeit slowly - their new music search feature, making it easier to immediately hear an artist's music right away
Every wonder how many Google searches are music related? Two out of every 10 searches just so happen to be music related, you curious cat, you. Google, the internet behemoth, noticed this trend and figured they would spruce up their search function to easily satiate the widespread need for internet users to get their music fix, announcing their new music search feature yesterday afternoon on their Official Google Blog. Just hope that the band you are searching has a distinctly unique name not used in any other facet of popular culture or anywhere else, for that matter.
These fine young men call themselves Yeasayer and will have their sophomore album ready for February 2010
Is it too early to look ahead to already announced albums with 2010 release dates? No, especially when those releases carry the clout of such bands as Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer and Arcade Fire. Vampire Weekend has already teased listeners with a track from their January 2010 LP Contra, "Horchata," while Yeasayer has announced the tracklist for their February release Odd Blood. These may pale in comparison to the recent news of a possible 2010 release for Quebecois rockers Arcade Fire.
No, Kanye West is not dead, despite the widespread rumor from early Wednesday morning
Sometimes you wake up, check out what's the buzz for the early day and something magical/bizarre/all too typical falls into your lap. Wednesday morning just so happened to be the perfect example of one such occurrence, with Twitter and the rest of the internet flooded with the rumor of Kanye West's death. It was reported that the musician/professional interrupter/gay fish had perished in a car crash in Los Angeles, but that later turned out to be proven untrue. It was a missed opportunity, perhaps, but it is also a stern reminder that anything can be promoted as real with enough people perpetuating it through the internet, Twitter and other means.
Jack White received an honorary patronage from Dublin's Trinity College's University Philosophical Society
Sunday night was an interesting night for Jack White. The multi-faceted musician, currently focusing his energy on his new band The Dead Weather, received and honorary patronage award from Trinity College's University Philosophical Society. At his acceptance ceremony, the singer/guitarist/drummer gave an impromptu lecture focusing on his musical beliefs, among other things. White's lecture is gaining attention -- in some people's minds (mine, especially) -- for a statement he made about musical authenticity, evoking Tom Waits and Bob Dylan in the same breath as Britney Spears.
The pants-less one, Lady Gaga, has announced her new North American tour and Phoenix is nowhere to be found.
Lady Gaga, that lightning rod of weirdness and pop music giant, has announced her new North American tour, appropriately dubbed "The Monster Ball." It was a month ago when she and professional interrupter/gay fish Kanye West had announced their "Fame Kills" tour, picking Phoenix as their first stop. Well, "Fame" was killed 2 weeks ago and the announcement that West needed to drop out of the limelight (no, really?) and keep his shit under wraps soon followed as an explanation as to why. Gaga, ever the entrepreneur, seized the moment for herself and put the word out that she would soldier on with her own tour.
The New Moon Soundtrack features contributions from Grizzly Bear, Muse, Thom Yorke and Death Cab For Cutie
All of the sudden, the soundtrack for the newest movie in the Twilight Saga, New Moon, turned into an indie rock/hipster collective. Jump-started by the Death Cab For Cutie single "Equinox," the Paramores and Linkin Parks of the previous movie's soundtrack were replaced with the likes of Bon Iver, Thom Yorke, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Lykke Li. It was an intriguing move, one that elicited some serious indie-cred consideration when the final track list was announced. Over the weekend, sometime early Sunday morning, the soundtrack was leaked and everyone got their first taste of just what fruit this impressive collection would bear.
You can apply this graph to a myriad of possibilities in today's economy, but let's stick to music sales for now
The Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit took place this past Sunday through Tuesday in Washington, D.C. and the news coming out of everything was music sales in 2008. Specifically, that of 115,000 albums released last year, only 110 sold more than 250,000 copies. This should not come as a surprise, but that number is incredibly dismal -- and it solidifies that artists will have to turn to other avenues to generate any decent revenue.
As per Jimmy Fallon's request, Christopher Cross played his debut 1980 single "Ride Like The Wind" with the Roots
Last week on his show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, host Jimmy Fallon mentioned that he came down with a sore throat over his weekend and spent most of it listening to his iPod, which was filled with, as he described it, "AM Gold." One particular song Fallon listened to that weekend happened to be Christopher Cross' debut single, "Ride Like The Wind," a song that hit #2 on the Billboard charts back in 1980. Fallon mentioned his love for the song to some of the shows producers and, as luck would have it, they booked Cross for a special Monday themed episode. The theme? You guessed it, "Yacht Rock." Watch the fantastic performance after the jump.
Behold Jared Swilley and Nathan Williams, the two young gentleman at the center of this particular beef, as the kids like to say
​Sometimes two little wieners who take jabs at each other over the internet turns out to be just a wussy little war of words. When those two happen to be in the bands Black Lips and Wavves -- two bands whose pride reaches staggering amounts -- shit can seriously go down, like it did last Friday at Brooklyn's Daddy's (for those keeping track, the bar is in Williamsburg). Words were exchanged, spit hit faces and one dude -- Black Lips' Jared Swilley -- ended up with a bloody head, compliments of a beer bottle. Since when did indie rock turn into hair metal circa 1992?
Drake leads off today's music video roundup with his latest song "Forever."
Things are chug-chugging along on this humpday, and while music news may be at a premium today, there have been quite a few recent music videos in the past week or so that have come to my attention. It's always fun to fawn over new videos, and today has provided two so far -- Drake's "Forever" and St. Vincent's "Marrow." Polar opposites, for sure, but they are worthy of your attention, if not to poke fun at whatever it is Drake thinks makes for a "good" music video.
It seems Lily Allen is having one of those terrible, horrible, no good and very bad days.
It seems British singer Lily Allen set out to make today one of her worst in a long, long time. Allen has recently devoted her time to her new blog "It's Not Alright" to speak out against music piracy. As you can see by clicking the link, her blog posts have all been deleted and it is merely a hollow shell of what it once was. This is because the singer announced today that she has not renewed her record contract and will not make any new music, effectively ending her recording career. A bold move, indeed, Allen's hasty decision has lead to regret for the singer and complete shock for all her fans.
These nice young lads need your help in deciding their brand new name, and they need it soon
Portland's hottest little electronic/dance/DIY band, Starfucker, is coming to The Valley soon -- October 4, to be exact -- but they may have a new name by then. The band has reconsidered their controversial moniker, deciding to take action and just get themselves a shiny (hopefully not shitty) new one. It seems the fellas did not see their band having quite the amount of success and popularity it has. What started out as a funny little in-house joke has erupted into a full-time job, and the band doesn't feel that "the name makes sense anymore..."
Post a Comment
Richardson's Cuisine of New Mexico
Phoenix, AZ 
Dos Gringos
Scottsdale, AZ 
Delux
Phoenix, AZ 
Olive & Ivy
Scottsdale, AZ 
Postino Wine Café
Phoenix, AZ 
Red White & Brew
Mesa, AZ 
